Lack of Action Man

Like Phil Tufnell batting - now there is a quote that has made me chuckle ? I’m going to have to steal that. You (and others in this thread) make some good points about timing I.e. we appoint what could be perceived as SL’s choice when the club achieves some semblance of stability and integrity and then they perform woefully, leaving a trail of destruction in their path that then sets up their successor, which often is the fans preferred choice, to fail. Are we also guilty of recruiting these “proven” managers when they are past their expiry date? Coppell being one such example, and NP (though I really hope not) could possibly be labelled as another, given his illness record?

Just thought I’d gauge people’s opinion on why it is that when we seemingly get a managerial appointment that is endorsed by a reasonable portion of the fan base, the result ends up being totally underwhelming? I was very much excited by NP’s appointment, to the point where I bought my first ST since SC’s final season. For me, despite the financial constraints, injuries and rumours of total mismanagement behind the scenes, I expected quite a bit more from Nigel Pearson. I expected more i.e. a definitive style of play (we seem to be slowly getting this), but also a resolute mentality that we would be hard to beat and always claw our way back into a game (which we aren’t and don’t). I’m not saying I thought we’d be play off contenders, but to be languishing in the lower half has me feeling very… meh ?? I was excited when we appointed Coppell and that went totally tits up. I was excited, perhaps less so, by SOD and that was something of a disaster. I didn’t really know what to make of SC, who turned out to be excellent in league one, and (like many I suspect) I had a somewhat marmite view of LJ. The less said about the astonishing ineptitude of appointing DH the better. So why is it that when we get “the fans choice” (or at least my preferred choice ?) things go to pot? Financial mismanagement? Fallings out with the board or players? Honestly it has me baffled. Maybe I am the curse somehow?! I desperately want NP to succeed but at the moment I just can’t see it. I want to be proven wrong!

What a cracking photo that is ??

He is the proper niggly shithouse of a player that I would love to hate if he played for the opposition! ? Since he plays for us though I’m all for it! I just worry he will rack up a yellow virtually every game with the abysmal refereeing in this league.

You are spot on. Bentley makes saves that O’Leary just doesn’t seem to be able to reach. Taking ball skills and kicking out of it, Bentley is fundamentally a better goalkeeper than O’Leary by some distance.

Christ yeah that was truly baffling - looked harder to miss than to score?!

Marking vacant space in open play (rather than being touch tight) is basically the same as zonally marking from a set piece. You're banking too much (for my liking) on the ball falling into the area you are occupying, rather than making life as difficult as possible for the opposition. If we're going to attribute this to poor/sluggish reactions then you'd have to say that whoever is defensively coaching us is using a very naive approach, particularly when you consider how young our squad is.

Yeah fair enough, agree to disagree - I thought he allowed them to be overly physical in areas that didn't need it, but equally let us get away with a few cynical things. In general I thought he was poor.

Gahhhh. So infuriating.

Disappointed mostly. Good football is beginning to blossom, but the inability to see out a game or build upon a 1 goal lead is infuriating.

Not focusing on the pens, which I agree were dubious shouts. More just his general decision making for both teams was off. Allowed a few suspect challenges to ride for both teams.

90+5 minutes with a 1 goal lead = do not stand off the opposition. Get touch tight and restrict their ability to get a clean strike on the ball. Our defenders are stood off him too far for my liking, allowing him the chance to pivot and shoot. Well executed goal, but someone should have been within farting distance of him to prevent it.

He took it very well, but my initial thought was you have to say to execute a finish like that suggests he was open in space with no pressure applied from the defense. Having seen it back again, I stand firm by that assessment.

Another goal conceded from a ******* cross! Whose man?! **** zonal marking, we have to man-mark the opposition out of easy chances like that.

Today's ref was appalling.

First priority defending set pieces or crosses has to be making your opposite man’s life as difficult as possible. By doing that you give yourself the best chance of either winning the ball, or stopping him from doing what he wants with the ball. For that reason, I always get a little bit twitchy with ball-watching zonal marking, like we use.

Funny OP has brought the GK dilemma up as I started a similar thread after the Cardiff match. Having seen the footage from Luton back again, I’m very disappointed with MOL for both goals. He’s rooted to his line and slow to react. Those who are drawing comparisons with Phillips are not far wide of the mark. As I’ve alluded to before, this whole scenario reminds me of when Basso fell out of favour and we went with Henderson/Gerken in nets for a bit. Lots of posters at the time claiming we would be fine purely based on reserve/U23 matches - but in actuality the gulf in class between them was patently obvious when it came to 3pm on a Saturday. The same now is appearing (in my opinion) between MOL and Bentley. Bentley should be restored to the starting XI from the next match for me.

I feel Cardiff’s second was saveable and each time I watch it, it looks more so. But I’m not sure that’s a droppable error, rather it’s more something I hope MOL doesn’t do again.

Can’t beat the Beatles, even in 2022!

Top image looks like an elephant’s trunk has forced its way through the ceiling.

I’m feeling I’m in the minority here, but I’m not convinced on him… yet. Their second goal looked saveable at the time, and having watched the footage back I would hope he could have done a little better. The ball seems to take an eternity to go in. He seems to also be a bit rooted to his line when crosses come in. Flip side of it is that he does look very comfortable with the ball at his feet, and can drill the ball with seemingly far more accuracy than Bentley. Plus he has a good long accurate throw out as well. This seems to suit how we want to play better than Bentley’s slow delivery and inevitable long high punt. In summary… I’m not sure who I’d pick moving forwards (unless Bentley is sold). But certainly don’t think it’s as easy as saying one is clearly better than the other when they each have merits and weaknesses.

They just heard we wanted to demolish the Atyeo and build a bigger and better stand, so started the project early for us.

You are 100% spot on. Distinctly average at this level.

You think bottle throwing is bad? Some numpty a few rows in front of me wasted a whole packet of Maltesers by throwing them at various people in the south stand. Shameful.

Think you’re right. Can’t remember the last time that happened!